It's only human to want to inhabit every feeling you've got
and more ofthen than not let's take it to the Nth degree
here he goes,
'gimme ten bucks and a head start'
here's where he goes,
'the puzzle's pulling apart'
and here's the scene:
you're yelling calmly down the street,
'are we family?'
or what

From happy-go-lucky to surly-go-crazy the lot
and more often than not Admission to the Battles is Free
here he goes,
'give ya ten bucks and a head start'
here's where he goes
pulling the puzzle apart
and here's the scene
where you whisper down the crookedest street,
'are we family?'
or what

Are we family when it's only if not when
sisters brothers wolf wolf lover
and the boy who stamped too many ants?
Are we family?

It's only human to want to inherit every feeling you've got
and like it or not let's take it to the Nth degree
here we go
give us ten bucks and a headstart
here's where we go
the puzzle's pulling apart
And here's the scene:
your horse is going the wrong way up the street,
Are we family?
or what

Are we family when it's only if not when
taking care of each other one bullet to another
when it's all, 'if a song can't save us then nothing can'
are we family?
or what

to one another?
the lost to the recovered?
the new caledonian crow to the chimpanzee?
the tribal jury to the pakistani teen?
ill-starred evenings to champion mystique?
sick as a writer writing to be lighter than the uncanny
when the invasion of Antarctica's complete
are we family?

2 Comments

General CommentNo comments? Sheesh, this is a real great song, Not sure the exact meaning but i think it has somthing to do with all living things on earth. We share earth as our home, yet conflicts between different species/other human races happen every day. Are we family or what?

General Comment"Are we family when it's only if not when
taking care of each other one bullet to another
when it's all, 'if a song can't save us then nothing can'
are we family?
or what"

This reminds me of my "SAMWAP" friends, and I love them more like a family than my real family. We are always there for eachother we are the only ones who understand eachother, and this verse just reminds me of them.

If I understand this verse right, I think it is being sarcastic and making a social comment on how effed up the world has become. Gord writes, 'Taking care of each other'- and how do we do that? 'One bullet to another.' I wouldn't want that referring to how I take care of my friends. There's nothing very tender about this verse or the song in general.

It's a very bleak but realistic outlook on the sad state of affairs existing in the world today. It's not 'We are family,' but rather 'Are we family?' Or, as Gord introduced it once, 'Here's a song that's more interrogative than declarative..'